Heaven-Storming Liszt: Ballade no 2 in B minor

[@ΓιάννηςΚωνσταντινίδης-γ9φ]

Let's get a theme going of you cosplaying the composers poses for the thumbnails!! Can't wait to watch this is my favourite Liszt piece.

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Well it's a great idea, but I don't know how well I would do with Brahms!

[@ΓιάννηςΚωνσταντινίδης-γ9φ]

@@TheIndependentPianist You must have grown out the beard at least once!

[@Nick-qs9ux]

everything is possible

[@tom6693]

The 2nd Ballade was one of the great tracks on that classic Arrau Liszt album from 1969, a recording which was awash with spectacular and revelatory performances--Arrau making it clear that pieces like the Ballade, the Vallee d'Obermann, the Petrarch Sonnets 104 and 123 were much "bigger" than most people imagined. Monumental in conception and execution, these were thrilling traversals and, certainly for me, had the effect of making me hear them all with new ears.

[@1fattyfatman]

Agree

[@David_Carrillo]

How long does it take you to learn pieces man 😮 slow down and give us some time to catch up😂

[@TheIndependentPianist]

The summer is my open time, so I'm going to forge ahead as much as I can! Then you can catch up during the fall 🙂

[@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji]

7:22 sounds remotely like the Ricordanza etude

[@TheIndependentPianist]

That's a good comparison as well. They all belong to the same musical family

[@richdisilvio4591]

I’ve always loved this Ballade and figured there had to be some program Liszt had in mind. It’s very dramatic and expressive, certainly not straight abstract music. You’ve finally shed a new light on this masterpiece. It all makes perfect sense. Thank you! Liszt is endlessly fascinating to me, and his endless inspiration has yielded several books that incorporate him and a video on his life. An amazing man and sadly too often marginalized by haughty critics, yet without doubt the most innovative genius of his era. Thanks again, Cole, for this wonderful video!

[@benlizon]

I just played this ballade on a jury and I really love your attention to the “holding on” in Hero’s theme, as well as the disembodied quality before the transfigured first theme. I personally didn’t know how to interpret those very long holds and kind of wish I’d heard your thoughts then because it makes so much sense. I also felt very strongly that Hero’s theme is almost pensive or as you say, disembodied when it repeats over and over. The connection to Wagner is also very obvious, yet one I didn’t consider. Generally I’m left wanting to play this piece again having heard your thoughts. You never cease to inspire me with your commentary.

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Thank you for your very kind words. I'm happy if I gave you some ideas to consider-this is definitely a piece to revisit and play again and again, so don't worry too much about that jury 🙂

[@OziCastle]

Always a good day when you upload

[@lucynagawlikguitar8128]

Wonderful!

[@MasmorraAoE]

Just found your channel! Cool videos! Slight remark, in Chopin's 1st sonata (c-minor) the recapitulation is in b-flat minor, so this changing of keys during the exposition/recapitulation was not completely unheard of!

[@duartevader2709]

You finally made a videi on this piece, this has got to be, by far, my favourite liszt piece and on my top 5 pieces of all time, absolutely love it, defenetly learning it in a couple of months

[@da__lang]

You've persuaded me to learn this Liszt piece next. I was debating between this and Funérailles. I've always thought it would be fun to do an entire recital program of ballades, perhaps with this one and others from Chopin, Brahms' opus 10, Debussy's poetic take on the ballade, and Barber's lovely opus 46, which really deserves to be heard more frequently I'm also quite enamored with the Grieg Ballade in the form of Variations, a much larger scale work that explores the limits of the form.

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Great idea for a program!

[@EugeneLau-f1x]

I know it isn't the main focus of this video, but that theme from the Ring cycle you mention is extremely reminiscent of the intermezzo movement from Beethoven's Sonata in A major (op 101)

[@olibeatson1247]

It's interesting what you say about the endings to his pieces being simple, perhaps just as a way of rounding off the expectations on the performer - altho I have often sacrificed a great deal of accuracy to even get to the end, it feels like there will often be momentum, rhythms and harmony still very much crackling within the piece waiting to be spent, and I like to think he was very much hoping to be somebody else's Paganini, particularly as his pieces are often composed of these little atomic or chromatic directives that beg for extrapolation. Thanks for the video!

[@johnrock2173]

Well, thankyou for the really good interpretation and talk. I guess I feel that this is a wonderful piece until Liszt beats the hell out of it at the end. His overemphasis on showing off pretty lame virtuosoishness really leaves a bad taste and is kinda exhausting. I'm a huuuuuge Liszt fan but also feel like there's a certain amount of pieces he destroys in this way. It's like having this beautiful racehorse win the Kentucky Derby and then forcing it to jump over a bunch of lame hurdles and run around barrels after it already crossed the finish line. I also feel this way about certain Chopin codas. Sorry everybody just thought I'd make one of my rare Liszt criticisms. Thank you as always, Cole

[@barbaradunnett2831]

Thank you for this! I’ve been working on this piece and am about to do a recording. Your video has given me much more insight into the story and has inspired me to explore more deeply how I would like to express it, especially the various forms of Hero’s theme.

[@gerry30]

One of my absolute favorite Liszt pieces. Well done! Thank you!

[@grahamtwist]

Your wonderfully detailed analysis ensures a more focused and appreciative understanding for the audience of this amazing Ballade. Your performance, Cole, was equally mesmerizing, overflowing with virtuosic artistry as you invited us to share the drama and high passion of the story with you: B R A V O !

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Thank you Graham!

[@joanlandkamer9439]

My 90-year old organ teacher studied with great names of the 20th century and taught at many universities. Today I played him your "five things I hate about conservatory" and he felt you made many valid points. I also played him the video on the G minor Ballade Op. 118 and he was very impressed by your playing and commentary. I might have won you a new fan. At some point I suspect we'll watch this video together since he isn't familiar with Liszt's B minor Ballade and wants to keep learning even at 90.

[@SZ-wb1qb]

should there not been a fermata after leander drowns?

[@zamyrabyrd]

Incredibly beautiful and profound. Thanks so much! There is also a Schumann Hero and Leander connection. "Schumann said to Clara to have perceived in 'In der Nacht' the story of Grillparzer's Hero and Leander, albeit not until after writing it: 'It is an old and beautiful romantic legend. When I play (it) I can never forget this image: first he plunges into the sea - she cries out - he answers - he swims safely to shore through the waves - now the cantilenas as they embrace - then he must leave but cannot bear to part - until night again enshrouds everything in darkness. - To be sure, I imagine Hero to be exactly like you; and if you were sitting atop a lighthouse I, too, would probably learn how to swim. But tell me whether you too think this image fits the music.''" Wikipedia

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Lovely!

[@nickk8416]

Geez Cole, that is so good! It took me several listens of this piece years ago and then I heard Jorge Bolet play it. I finally got it. What a masterpiece! Beautiful performance Cole! great video.

[@hannesdewinter1458]

Great video of a great piece of music. Love the thumbnail btw!❤

[@ruramikael]

A convincing case for Hero and Leander, an interpretation that I had abandoned. Liszt often repeats the introduction/exposition in a different key (like here), the Purgatorio movement of the Dante Symphony begins in D major, he then starts to repeats it but suddenly modulates to Eb major.

[@ruramikael]

As for Liszt's model, it is nearly always late Beethoven. In this case the first movement of the Ninth, where we first hear the theme in D minor and then in Bflat major. Here Beethoven avoids the exposition repeat.

[@Rola6jkTi8POACH]

thank you so much for this brilliant lecture on the ballade. I enjoyed it a lot and will rewatch it

[@user-fu7zf4ck9z]

07:23

[@joshyman221]

What an excellent video. Thank you

[@fahim5732]

What a handsome fellow

[@Nick-qs9ux]

Thank you! Second time I heard it. I like liszt thanks to your comments. I am delighted that you return to these programmatic works in subsequent videos ;). Greetings and sorry for the translation.

[@MicheleAngeliniTenor]

Thanks for making this really fantastic video about one of the truly great pieces in the piano literature, and bravo for your performance!

[@neilkilleen3911]

I’m listening to your discussion- did you crank up the “reverb” on the piano for this piece? It sounds very echo-y to me… I’m keen to hear what you do with those scales at the end (a la Arrau!!) when I listen to the performance

[@matthewosterholzer]

Really amazing stuff! Your entire performance is great, but your approach to the "distant version" of Hero's Theme really stands out- what a special moment.

[@kevinmcelhaney8066]

Great analysis and inspiring performance. Thank you

[@etcetc5592]

Your work is so amazing, needed and underrated... You deserve a lot more views, which i'm sure will come with time. Congrats and thank you

[@angelmeneg6507]

Thats my favourite Liszt piece. And the only one ive got the score for. Hope one day ill learn it

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Yes, you definitely should!

[@farazhaiderpiano]

Woah! This will be a mammoth to watch! I cannot wait!! On a side note, the roars at the bottom of the piano before the scale climax must've inspired the Grieg concerto - Liszt was truly a genius.

[@zakzaki9542]

do you play on an electric piano?

[@antonrubinsteinisthebest]

He uses a VPC-1 as an MIDI controller with Ivory 2 American D for the sound.

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

you look quite like him.

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Well with long hair it kind of works

[@martinbennett2228]

On the one hand I am shocked by the literalism of your approach, on the other I cannot deny how convincing and successful it works out in your hands. Often such an approach can end up as episodic and lacking structure or even directionless, but without your exposition I would never have guessed your strong attachment to an underlying narrative rather than to a reinvention of sonata form.

[@neilkilleen3911]

What do you mean by “literalism”? Do you refer to the programmatic context of this piece ? For myself I find the context interesting and useful for interpretation, but I think it always has to be secondary so that the music stands in its absence

[@martinbennett2228]

@@neilkilleen3911 Yes I do mean the literal program that Cole Anderson appears to use to interpret the work, despite the absence (other than anecdotal) of having Liszt's clear approval.

[@neilkilleen3911]

@@martinbennett2228 it will remain speculative, but Arrau/Krause is not such a poor source !

[@martinbennett2228]

@@neilkilleen3911 Undeniably, but why would Liszt have refrained from giving the direct reference his official approval? Could it be that he felt that to do so would have led to sloppy, over-indulgent performances?

[@TheIndependentPianist]

@@martinbennett2228 that’s an excellent question, for which, of course, no one has an answer. My own hypothesis is that Liszt was influenced in this instance by the example of Chopin’s Ballades-works which evince a strong narrative quality, but whose programs (if any) remain untold. Perhaps this brief period of “Chopin obsession” caused Liszt to take this uncharacteristic approach towards extra musical program. It’s doubtful that he would have withheld the program because he felt it would lead to over-indulgent performance, given his usual approach to poetic reference! For myself, I find that having a program in mind as a performer almost always helps with finding a more vivid interpretation. It’s not at all necessary to share your program with anyone, although I find that this story, at least, usually intrigues audiences. Personally, I don’t have very much sympathy with the notion that music should never have any extra musical connotations-the viewpoint that Stravinsky supposedly endorsed. Although certainly it’s not a good idea to go overboard either! I guess I’ll have to cover this topic in another video….

[@3r7s]

you know.. i can't really stand Liszt, but i'm going to watch this for the sake of all your effort.. and the thumbnail.. 😅